In case anyone at present
thinks that the streets of Boston are crooked, it might be in point to remind
them of the old-time Avery Street, as many Bostonians still can remember it.

It was, as Avery Street is nowadays, a thoroughfare between Washington Street
and Tremont Street, but that fact seemed to be a deep and dark secret to all
except those who were very familiar with Boston of that day. It was a narrow
passage, being, in spots, not over eight feet wide, and, as the street took no
less than four right-angled bends in its short length, it looked like a blind
alley from ether end; the discovery that it was a through way was practically a
sign of initiation into the inmost mysteries of Boston. About 1915, a major
operation was performed on this section of town. Every portion of Avery Street
was widened―enough to eliminate two of the four bends, making that part of the
street into an extension of Mason Street; the widened Tremont Street end of the
old alley became the present branch of Mason Street leading to Tremont Street;
while the line Avery Street followed from Washington Street was not only widened
but continued by cutting through along the same line to Tremont Street, giving
the present Avery Street, which anyone can see is a through street.

*

The first actual declaration of independence was
issued by Suffolk County, Mass (now covering both Suffolk and Norfolk Counties),
at a County Convention held in Milton on [Tuesday]
September 6, 1774, when a resolution, then called the Suffolk Resolves, declared
Suffolk County absolved from allegiance to the king.

Plymouth County followed with an
endorsement of the Suffolk Resolves, in October 1774.

Later declarations of Independence that
followed were: Mecklenburg County, N.C.; Rhode Island, May 4, 1776. In May of
1776, a referendum of Massachusetts town meetings voted for independence, and
Connecticut and Virginia declared their independence. The Philadelphia
declaration in July, 1776, was merely to make it unanimous. It was passed by
Congress on [Tuesday] July 2, though it bore the
official date of July 4. It was not agreed to by New York until July 18, after
several New York delegates resigned from Congress. New York City and its
vicinity remained a loyalist stronghold, and, except for a few months of rebel
occupation, stayed in the Empire til November 25, 1783.

*

People who have been in Boston in past seasons, and have come back this summer,
may be a bit confused by the apparent absence of any form of public
transportation on Huntington Avenue. They will find the same old street cars
underground―stations at Symphony Hall (Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues), at
Mechanics Building, and at Copley Square (at Dartmouth and Boylston).